by Ross Trudeau
[.puz][PDF][Solution] Difficulty: 3.5/5
It’s that time of year again! Jessie and I just bought our ACPT tickets, which means I also owe Parker an email about costuming. We’re bring the esprit in twenty-three, bay-beee! Also on the horizon is the Boswords Winter Wondersolve (February 5th, online). Registration opens in two weeks time. I’ll “be” there as well.
My gratitude to Shannon and Margaret for testing solving “Lord, Is It I?” Scroll down for thoughts and spoilers!
So, okay, maybe you thought I’d gotten the quantum kick out of my system after the World Cup ended. And solver? So did I. But! As I began writing the copy for invitations to the Ninth Annual Sound of Music Sing-And-Quote-Along (SOMSaQuA IX, it’s real, best party of the year), it dawned on me that MARTA and MARIA we’re just an uncrossed T (i.e., an I) away from each other. And lo!
I did this puzzle because the copy for the revealer puts our non-detail-oriented comrades at ease: don’t cross the T’s? All good, friend! You just get an I-FORMATION rather than a T-FORMATION [Certain NFL offensive alignment], etc.:
T-BAR / I-BAR [Letter-shaped beam]
CAN’T HELP / CAN I HELP [Possible response to a plea for assistance]
TVS / IVS [Tubes hooked up in many hospital rooms]
MINT OREO / MINI OREO [Twistable cookie variety]
BATTERS / BAITERS [Ones angling for a hit]
MARTA / MARIA [“The Sound of Music” role] … Thought of [Leading role opposite Christopher Plummer, too!]
Happy solving, friends!
-Ross